Brown keeps keys to campaign office

Credit: Unknown

Former Sen. Scott Brown has clammed up about whether he will run for the Senate special election or join the 2014 gubernatorial race — but his former campaign office speaks volumes.

Brown’s campaign took over the entire lease shortly after he lost the 2012 election to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, according to Massachusetts Republican Party spokesman Tim Buckley. The MassGOP had paid a portion of the lease during the election season, Buckley said.

Brown’s campaign representatives have refused to return multiple calls asking about the lease. A Truth Squad surprise visit to Brown’s Summer Street headquarters in the Seaport District revealed a partially emptied office. However, a volunteer and a former campaign worker were both in the office and declined to comment. A representative continues to stop by the office often.

Brown hasn’t been talking about whether he will run, telling the Herald’s Joe Battenfeld, “No comment, buddy,” when reached Friday. But the pressure is on the Wrentham Republican to make a choice by the end of this week because a Senate committee is set to consider U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry’s nomination for secretary of state.

Moving on up

Attorney General Martha Coakley glides into this week after receiving a political two-fer. U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, a potentially strong rival in the 2014 gubernatorial race, saw her political prospects melt away after computer wunderkind Aaron Swartz killed himself, facing stiff prosecution from her office for trying to go around a pay wall to download millions of MIT academic papers. Lt. Gov. Tim Murray threw in the towel for the 2014 race on Friday. Coakley faces one of her biggest hurdles this week as she decides whether or not to re-try former Treasurer Tim Cahill after her first corruption case against him ended in a mistrial, but her week starts with a boost nonetheless.

Twitter bombs

It was short and sweet, but Lt. Gov. Tim Murray’s tweet dropped like a bomb last Friday on the Massachusetts political landscape — shaking up the gubernatorial field and opening new doors for many potential candidates. “2014,” was all he tweeted, along with a link explaining that the controversy-plagued second in command won’t be running for governor.

Wouldn’t want to be you

Gov. Deval Patrick is bound to make many, many people unhappy this week as Sen. John Kerry is likely confirmed as secretary of state and Patrick names the interim replacement. Kerry will face the Senate foreign relations committee for a hearing this Thursday, and some have suggested he could be confirmed on the same day. That would leave Patrick on the hook to announce a replacement as soon as Friday — and while the gov probably has already made his decision, he will face political blowback no matter who he chooses.